AMERICAN  SOCIETY 
MECHANICAL  ENGINEERS 


PRESIDENT’S  ADDRESS 

1898 


THE  ENGINEER 

HIS  WORK 
HIS  ETHICS 
HIS  PLEASURES 


With  the  compliments 
of  the  author. 


AMERICAN  SOCIETY  OF  MECHANICAL  ENGINEERS— 
ANNUAL  ADDRESS  OF  THE  PRESIDENT , 1898. 

Forming  a part  of  Volume  XX.  of  the  Transactions . 

BT  CHARLES  WALLACE  HUNT. 


It  has  been  the  custom  of  this  Society  for  the  President  to 
deliver  a formal  address  at  the  end  of  his  term  of  service.  This 
practice,  like  other  acts  which  continue  long  enough  for  the 
establishing  of  a custom,  must  have  good  reasons  for  its  exist- 
ence, although  they  may  not  be  fully  appreciated  either  by  those 
who  established  or  by  those  who  follow  the  custom. 

The  duty  which  devolves  upon  me  this  evening  was  first  en- 
tered into  as  a task,  but  it  grew  to  be  a pleasure,  as  the  growth 
and  importance  of  the  functions  of  the  engineer  became  evident 
on  every  side,  as  we  study  them  in  our  national  development,  in 
our  industries,  and  even  in  the  comforts  and  the  luxuries  of  our 
daily  life. 

Each  one  of  us  looks  out  upon  the  same  world  from  a different 
standpoint,  and  each  sees  the  same  general  scene,  but  the  scope 
of  the  view  and  the  details  observed  will  vary  to  a greater  or  a 
less  degree,  depending  upon  our  particular  position.  In  addi- 
tion to  this,  each,  as  it  were,  looks  through  a colored  glass  which 
gives  a personal  tint  to  the  scene,  colored  by  the  effects  of  our 
environment,  as  well  as  by  our  personal  temperament. 

Could  we  combine  all  these  various  pictures,  large  and  small, 
which  are  presented  to  our  view,  with  all  their  varied  tints,  we 
would  obtain  a kind  of  composite  image,  which  would  be  a more 
accurate  and  probably  a more  pleasing  representation  of  the 
real  subject  than  any  one  of  us  sees  individually.  A senior, 
who  has  travelled  the  rugged  path  of  life,  should  be  able  from 
his  experiences  on  the  way  to  select  such  views  as  would  be 
both  useful  and  pleasant  for  a junior  to  consider  as  he  starts 
out  on  a similar  journey.  The  interest  of  our  annual  meeting 
is  heightened,  and  an  intellectual  pleasure  is  given  us,  when  one 
of  our  body  presents'  to  the  others  those  subjects  which  seem  to 


^ v\  * \ 


2 


PRESIDENT’S  ADDRESS,  1898. 


him  important  and  interesting,  that  all  may  compare  them  with 
the  view  as  seen  from  their  own  standpoint.  As  we  pass  from 
subject  to  subject,  each  will  combine  the  picture  presented  with 
his  own  personal  conceptions,  giving,  as  it  were,  a stereoscopic 
effect,  each  one  gaining  a wider  and  a clearer  view.  In  making 
this  survey  we  will  first  consider  those  matters  which  immedi- 
ately concern  engineering  practice,  and  then  pass  on  to  wider 
fields  and  subjects  of  more  general  interest. 


The  Word  “ Engineer  P 

In  order  that  we  may  proceed  in  harmony  of  thought,  we  must 
use  words  in  the  same  sense.  Let  us,  then,  first  consider  what 
we  mean  by  the  word  “ engineer  ” — not  what  it  meant  historically, 
but  what  it  has  come  to  signify  in  the  active  world  of  to-day — 
and  try  to  bring  our  individual  conceptions  of  this  meaning  into 
harmony  each  with  the  other.  Following  Tredgold,  I have 
herein  used  the  word  “ engineer  ” in  the  broad  sense  of  one  who 
is  skilled  in  the  application  of  the  materials  and  forces  of  nature 
to  the  uses  of  man. 

Considered  in  this  broad  sense,  the  engineer  is  interested  in 
every  investigation  and  discovery  in  the  whole  realm  of  nature. 
Experience  has  shown  that  every  field  is  tributary  to  his  work. 
The  theoretical  abstraction  of  yesterday  becomes  a demonstra- 
tion to-day,  and  to-morrow  it  is  the  task  of  the  engineer  to  apply 
it  to  the  uses  of  man.  The  new  discoveries  of  materials,  of 
forces,  and  of  laws  which  now  succeed  each  other  so  rapidly, 
make  a corresponding  increase  in  the  range  of  the  work  and  the 
responsibility  of  the  engineer  of  this  present  day. 


Engineering  Practice. 

That  we  live  in  an  age  of  changes  is  at  once  our  opportunity 
and  our  pleasure.  Some  of  these  changes  burst  upon  us,  attract- 
ing universal  notice,  while  others  come  so  slowly  that  they  are 
almost  unobserved.  A change  of  the  latter  character  has  been 
taking  place  of  late  years  in  the  work  of  professional  engineers. 
This  has  largely  come  from  the  development  of  our  manufactur- 
ing institutions  from  the  position  of  being  a minor  factor  in  our 
economic  life  to  being  one  of  commanding  importance,  and  the 


PRESIDENT’S  ADDRESS,  1898.  3 

necessary  employment  of  skilled  engineers  to  conduct  their 
technical  affairs. 

The  engineer  of  the  user  and  the  engineer  of  the  maker  have 
widely  different  duties.  Consider  how  different  may  be  the  in- 
formation required  in  practice  by  two  classmates,  whom  we  will 
designate  as  “ A ” and  “ B,”  who  graduate  from  college  as  engi- 
neers. We  will  suppose  that  “ A ” secures  a position  in  the 
engineering  department  of  a city,  and  commences  his  work,  which 
may  be  the  designing  of  a new  water-pumping  station.  His 
college  course  has  fitted  him  for  the  work.  His  text-books  were 
suited  to  problems  of  this  character.  He  finds  abundant  infor- 
mation on  all  branches  of  the  subject,  in  data  published  in  the 
proceedings  of  scientific  societies,  in  technical  literature,  and  in 
annual  reports  of  city  departments.  The  forms  of  contracts 
to  be  entered  into  are  at  hand,  all  found  elaborately  drawn,  with 
every  point  safe-guarded,  and  need  only  a little  selection  and 
adaptation  to  suit  his  case.  They  place  in  his  hands  the  power 
to  decide  absolutely  and  without  appeal  all  questions  which 
may  arise  in  carrying  out  the  work. 

“ B ” obtains  employment  in  the  engineering  department  of  a 
manufacturing  corporation,  which  in  due  time  is  to  submit  a 
tender  for  the  construction  of  the  pumping  plant  for  which  “ A” 
has  issued  specifications.  He  will  find  that  the  form  of  contract 
proposed  by  “ A ” has  many  minute  and  carefully  worded 
clauses  to  bind  and  limit  the  supplier.  The  tender  to  be  sub- 
mitted for  the  execution  of  the  work  must  in  its  scope  and  word- 
ing protect  the  interests  which  “ B ” represents,  not  only  in  a 
general  sense,  but  in  every  one  of  the  clauses  of  the  proposed 
contract.  Every  obscure  phrase  and  every  adjective  used  by 
“A”  must  have  definite  consideration  and  be  clearly  defined 
in  both  an  engineering  and  a legal  sense.  “ B ” here  finds  that 
the  information  derived  from  his  college  course  is  meagre,  and 
there  is  no  technical  literature  which  he  can  use,  either  as  a 
general  guide  for  making  a form  of  tender,  or  the  proper  ex- 
pressions to  use  to  define  or  limit  the  obscure  clauses  or  words 
found  in  the  specification. 

Looking  at  the  subject  from  a purely  technical  point  of  view, 
we  see  quite  as  great  a variation  in  their  work.  In  the  case 
supposed,  “ A ” would  require  only  a general  knowledge,  while 
“ B ” would  require  the  most  thorough  and  exhaustive  informa- 
tion of  the  qualities  of  constructive  materials,  and  shop  practice 


4 


PRESIDENT’S  ADDRESS,  1898. 


available  in  that  particular  location.  The  farther  we  carry  the 
comparison  of  their  work,  the  more  clearly  it  is  seen  that  the 
educational  needs  are  becoming  more  and  more  complex,  to 
correspond  with  the  growing  specialization  of  engineering  work. 


Practice  Abroad . 

There  is  another  phase  of  engineering  practice  represented 
by  the  duties  of  “ A ” and  “ B ” which  now  becomes  interesting, 
if  the  work  of  American  engineers  is  to  take  the  place  in  the 
world  at  large  to  which  the  indications  now  so  plainly  point. 
In  other  countries  it  is  a common  practice  for  “ A ” to  make  all 
the  general  designs  and  all  of  the  details  for  engineering  work, 
and  the  supplier  has  no  responsibility  for  either,  or  for  the 
efficient  working  of  the  plant  when  completed.  If  errors  or 
omissions  are  found  in  the  drawings  or  specifications,  the  cost 
of  the  changes  required  is  paid  by  the  purchaser,  in  the  usual 
bill  for  extra  work.  In  this  case,  the  duties  of  “A  ” are  exhaus- 
tive, and  those  of  “ B ” are  small  or  disappear  altogether. 


American  Practice . 

The  American  practice  is  tending  to  the  method  of  making 
the  requirements  issued  by  “ A ” of  a general  character  which 
will  cover  the  results  sought,  and  leave  to  the  supplier,  “B,” 
the  work  of  designing  the  particular  means  to  accomplish  the 
desired  end.  Business  has  become  of  such  a magnitude  and 
so  complex  that  one  mind  cannot  fully  grasp  and  readily 
handle  the  new  discoveries,  new  materials,  and  new  practices 
which  now  come  so  rapidly.  For  efficient  and  economical 
results,  each  phase  must  be  handled  by  an  expert. 

There  will  be  many  “B”  engineers  to  respond  to  the  require- 
ments of  “ A,”  and  each  will  present  for  consideration  different 
ideas,  different  materials,  and  different  shop  practices.  “A” 
must  select,  from  these  various  plans  and  details  submitted, 
the  one  which  best  promises  to  fulfil  the  requirements.  It  is 
a division  of  labor  between  “ A ” and  “ B,”  each  of  whom,  by 
tastes  and  training,  is  especially  fitted  for  his  part  of  the  work. 
We  may  paraphrase  their  duties  by  saying  that  “ A ” is  a judge, 
“ B ” is  a counsellor. 


PRESIDENT’S  ADDRESS,  1898. 


5 


Post-Graduate  Work. 

At  the  present  time  we  cannot  expect  our  technical  schools, 
painstaking  and  perfect  as  they  are,  to  fully  prepare  both  “ A ” 
and  “ B ” for  such  new  and  varied  duties,  or  even  to  have  their 
instruction  in  engineering  fully  abreast  with  the  latest  practice, 
or  at  least  not  until  progress  in  the  arts  and  sciences  has  sub- 
stantially ceased.  It  takes  time  for  a new  practice  or  a new 
result  to  be  recorded,  published,  considered,  and  adopted  by 
the  teaching  staff. 

This  difference  between  the  teaching  and  the  engineering 
practice  of  the  day  is  not  only  an  indication  of  progress  in 
engineering,  but  in  some  measure  is  an  index  of  its  rate.  The 
student,  then,  must  expect,  as  a normal  proceeding,  to  supple- 
ment his  graduating  acquirements  by  practical  experience, 
together  with  a personal  contact  with  his  professional  breth- 
ren, in  order  to  place  himself  fully  abreast  of  the  times, 
and  to  be  fitted  for  the  most  effective  and  useful  engineering 
service. 

Engineering  theory  and  practice  are  rapidly  extending  with 
the  general  advancement  of  our  economic  interests,  and  the  en- 
gineer, whether  he  be  a young  graduate  or  otherwise,  who  does 
not  make  use  of  the  modern  aids  to  information,  among  which 
are  to  be  counted  scientific  societies,  and  a personal  association 
with  his  brethren,  with  the  innumerable  hints  and  suggestions 
which  come  from  these,  will  soon  be  found  struggling  with  what 
seems  to  him  adverse  fate,  but  what,  in  reality,  is  inferior  knowl- 
edge, behindhand  knowledge,  or,  plainly  speaking,  ignorance 
greater  or  less.  The  engineering  world  has  passed  by  him, 
and  he  must  then  view  the  working  out  of  the  law  of  the  sur- 
vival of  the  fittest  with  what  grace  he  may. 

Laboratory  Development. 

An  interesting  development  in  the  engineering  world  of  the 
present  day  is  the  rapid  growth  of  the  experimental  equipment 
of  our  colleges  and  technical  schools.  There  seems  to  be  no 
limit  to  the  expense  and  the  completeness  of  the  illustrative 
and  experimental  machinery  which  is  being  installed  for  the 
instruction  of  the  students  of  these  institutions.  And  not  less 
valuable  is  the  learning,  industry,  and  skill  of  the  professors 


6 


PRESIDENT’S  ADDRESS,  1898. 


in  charge  of  and  directing  these  schools,  whose  theoretical 
acquirements  are  supplemented  by  being  in  constant  per- 
sonal touch  with  the  industrial  and  economic  interests  of  the 
country. 

It  is  possible  that  by  an  organized  effort  the  magnificent 
equipment  of  trained  professors  and  experimental  apparatus 
could  be  brought  in  closer  touch  with  each  other,  that  to  a 
material  extent  their  work  and  investigations  might  be  made  to 
proceed  on  a predetermined  plan.  This  would  broaden  their 
field  of  experimental  investigations,  lessen  the  duplication  of 
work,  systematize  the  publication  of  results,  and  more  rapidly 
extend  our  growing  fund  of  accurate  engineering  data. 

A Helping  Hand. 

The  engineering  and  scientific  work  of  to-day  uses  one  or  the 
other  of  two  systems  of  metrology, — the  English  or  the  metric. 
The  discussions  of  the  relative  importance  and  the  desirability 
of  these  systems  of  weights  and  measures  are  frequently  interest- 
ing, and  may  to  some  extent  be  useful  in  familiarizing  the  terms 
and  making  easier  the  conversion  of  quantities  from  one  system 
to  the  other.  Practical  engineers  can,  however,  lay  aside  aca- 
demic discussions  on  the  advantages  or  disadvantages  of  either, 
and  recognize  that  the  two  great  systems  of  metrology  are  each 
used  by  great  engineering  nations  to  the  practical  exclusion  of 
any  other,  and  they  may  safely  assume,  without  discussion,  that 
they  are  not  likely  in  the  near  future  to  be  changed  in  any  ma- 
terial way  by  those  using  them. 

It  is  especially  desirable  that  English-speaking  societies  shall 
give  every  practicable  aid  to  engineers  using  the  metric  system 
of  measures,  that  the  work  of  their  engineers  may  be  readily 
available  and  with  the  least  possible  trouble  in  making  conver- 
sions of  quantities  from  the  English  to  the  metric  system.  Such 
computations  are  always  troublesome  to  perform,  and  distract- 
ing to  the  mind  when  undivided  attention  is  required  by  the 
subject  matter  of  the  article.  If  the  numerical  expression  in 
English  measures  is  followed  in  a parenthesis  by  the  exact 
metric  equivalent,  the  article  is  practically  translated  when 
printed,  as  most  engineers  using  the  metric  system  read  the 
English  language,  although  they  may  not  speak  it,  or  readily 
make  numerical  conversions.  The  greater  the  availability  and 


PRESIDENT’S  ADDRESS,  1898. 


T 


the  publicity  given  to  the  published  proceedings  of  a scientific 
society,  the  more  nearly  has  the  society  accomplished  the  chief 
object  of  its  existence. 

An  Extending  Field. 

It  has  long  been  evident  that  we  were  making  rapid  progress 
in  perfecting  our  manufacturing  machinery,  as  well  as  organiz- 
ing and  developing  our  industries,  thus  constantly  increasing 
the  efficiency  of  our  labor,  until  we  have  reached  a point  where 
an  hour’s  labor  with  its  facilities  produces  more  of  our  principal 
products,  and  transports  them  farther,  than  an  hour’s  labor  will 
do  in  any  other  part  of  the  world. 

The  late  war  has  revealed  to  us  the  fact  that  we  have  gone  on 
reducing  the  cost  of  our  products,  and  increasing  our  capacity 
for  production,  until  our  country  alone  does  not  furnish  a suffi- 
cient market  to  insure  steady  work  for  our  labor,  and  prosperity 
for  our  merchants  and  manufacturers.  Like  confined  waters,  the 
tendency  of  these  increasing  economic  forces  has  been  to  break 
out  from  their  confinement  and  equalize  trade  conditions  by 
seeking  a market  in  the  world  outside.  If  articles  which  are 
necessary  to  supply  the  wants  of  man  can  actually  be  made  here 
with  less  labor  and  cheaper  than  elsewhere,  here  they  will  surely 
be  made,  though  it  modify  our  traditional  ideas  of  isolated  posi- 
tion, and  our  protective  theories. 

One  hundred  years  ago  the  iron  trade  of  Sweden  was  greater 
than  that  of  England,  and  remembering  the  great  changes  which 
have  taken  place  in  the  last  hundred  years,  it  would  be  rash  to 
assume  that  the  momentous  economic  changes  which  are  now 
taking  place,  may  not  cause  an  equally  great  shifting  of  the 
centres  of  more  than  one  phase  of  industrial  activity. 

Scientific  Societies . 

Every  age  has  produced  most  ingenious  and  able  engineers 
and  mechanicians,  as  is  conclusively  shown  by  specimens  of 
their  work.  Many  of  these  have  been  preserved  and  handed 
down  to  us,  causing  us  to  wonder  at  their  skill  when  we  con- 
sider the  limitation  of  materials  then  available,  and  in  their  time 
the  paucity  of  exact  knowledge  of  the  laws  of  nature.  But  the 
special  knowledge  and  experience  of  those  masters  in  the  art 


8 


PRESIDENT’S  ADDRESS,  1898. 


practically  disappeared  when  death  claimed  the  originators, 
as  only  a small  portion  usually  remained  in  the  minds  of  the 
pupils,  and  but  little  of  this  was  transmitted  to  posterity.  It 
was  only  when  scientific  and  technical  societies  for  the  preserva- 
tion of  accurate  records  had  developed,  in  the  fulness  of  time, 
making  all  the  world  pupils,  that  the  valuable  knowledge  so 
laboriously  obtained  was  preserved  and  handed  down  to  those 
who,  sooner  or  later,  could  utilize  it  for  the  comfort  and  the 
advancement  of  mankind. 

These  lately  developed  scientific  societies,  which  are  so 
prominent  a feature  of  the  present  age,  were  organized  for  the 
discovery  and  the  universal  diffusion  of  scientific  knowledge,  an 
object  entirely  different  from  that  of  all  mediaeval  guilds  and 
trade  organizations.  At  first  they  were  largely  philosophical, 
discussing  theories  and  experiments  which  at  the  time  appeared 
to  the  community  at  large  to  have  little  or  no  direct  bearing  on 
the  practical  affairs  of  life. 

The  members  presented  to  the  society  the  results  of  their 
investigations  and  experiments,  in  the  form  of  written  papers, 
making  them  permanent  records  to  be  consulted  and  made  avail- 
able by  others  who  were  contemporaneous  or  who  would  succeed 
them.  This  was  the  vital  germ  which  was  to  develop  and  elevate 
science  and  its  applications  in  industrial  work  in  succeeding  ages. 
These  societies  thus  became,  so  to  say,  the  savings-banks  of  our 
civilization,  the  repositories  and  guardians  of  the  results  of  in- 
vestigations, experiments,  and  experience  that  otherwise  would 
have  been  lost  to  the  world. 

As  industrial  interests  became  more  important,  other  societies 
sprang  up,  each  devoted  to  some  particular  phase  of  scientific  or 
technical  work ; each  gathering,  selecting,  and  recording  data,  not 
alone  for  their  members,  but  to  become  permanent  additions  to 
the  general  fund  of  scientific  and  engineering  knowledge.  The 
growth  of  these  societies  has  been  accompanied  by  a gradual  de- 
crease of  secret  methods  of  manufacture,  formerly  so  prominent, 
but  which  have  now  practically  disappeared  in  our  industries. 
Manufacturing  supremacy  is  now  decided  by  other  factors. 

The  advance  made  in  the  accumulation  of  useful  data  and 
more  accurate  knowledge  in  practical  engineering  gained  one 
season,  is  presented  to  a scientific  society  the  next,  and  still 
later  it  will  be  embodied  in  text-books  for  the  instruction  of 
students  who  are  soon  to  take  our  places  and  carry  on  our  work. 


PRESIDENT’S  ADDRESS,  1898. 


9 


Until  attention  is  called  to  the  subject,  we  are  not  likely  to  real- 
ize that,  in  their  essential  parts,  the  great  bulk  of  the  engineer- 
ing data  available  to  us  now  has  been  first  presented  to  a sci- 
entific society,  and  there  permanently  preserved  until  the  time 
came  for  its  utilization  or  application.  It  is  this  great  fund  of 
information,  principally  accumulated  during  the  last  century, 
that  we  draw  upon  for  the  materials  for  our  text-books,  our 
general  treatises,  and  our  engineering  hand-books. 

Applied  Science. 

Turning  now  to  the  effects  of  this  accumulation  of  scientific 
data  and  literature  available  to  all  alike,  and  the  results  follow- 
ing its  application  by  organized  methods  of  procedure,  our  first 
glance  will  show  prominently  the  wonderful  and  rapid  increase 
of  the  importance  of  engineering  in  our  industrial  life.  It  has 
transformed  almost  every  phase  of  it,  and  put  into  our  hands 
materials  and  processes  which  make  the  actual  life  of  our  im- 
mediate ancestors  seem  primitive  by  comparison. 

Commencing  under  adverse  conditions  and  developing  in  a 
field  of  restricted  capital,  with  scarce  and  high-priced  labor, 
engineering  in  America  has  applied  the  forces  and  materials  of 
nature  to  the  uses  of  man  in  a characteristic  way.  Freedom 
from  mediaeval  traditions  and  the  hampering  conditions  found  in 
the  older  countries  left  them  substantially  free  in  the  choice  of 
means  to  accomplish  their  end.  Influenced  as  our  engineering 
has  been  by  the  experience  and  the  work  of  other  parts  of  the 
world,  yet  we  cannot  escape  the  fact  that  its  development  was 
essentially  independent,  and  in  some  phases  unique. 

Improvement  has  followed  improvement  in  technical  matters, 
profits  and  savings  have  been  added  to  the  capital  invested  in 
our  industries,  until  our  country,  two  hundred  years  ago  an 
untraversed  wilderness,  one  hundred  years  ago  a struggling 
nation — struggling  with  industrial  difficulties  and  serious  po- 
litical problems — has  triumphed  over  those  early  limitations, 
and  has  developed  into  a nation  which  in  numbers,  prosperity, 
and  wealth  takes  a prominent  position  among  the  great  nations 
of  the  world. 

The  Advent  of  the  Engineer. 

Whichever  way  we  turn,  we  behold  marvellous  changes,  which 
have  followed  the  advent  of  the  engineer  on  the  scene.  A view 


10 


PRESIDENT’S  ADDRESS,  1808. 


of  one  subject  will  in  a measure  serve  to  represent  these  changes, 
and  to  recall  similar  illustrations  to  your  minds  which  differ 
from  this  only  in  degree. 

It  is  but  a few  years,  well  within  the  memory  of  men  now 
living,  that  our  navy  and  all  the  other  navies  of  the  world  were 
composed  of  sailing  ships.  In  one  of  these  vessels  a mechanical 
germ  was  introduced  in  the  form  of  a steam  engine  and  an 
engineer.  The  grave  question  soon  arose  as  to  what  should  be 
the  status  of  the  new  intrusion  into  the  personnel  of  the  ship, 
the  engineer.  This  factor,  which  was  soon  to  revolutionize  the 
navy,  was  considered  unimportant  at  that  time,  as  is  shown 
by  the  first  official  record  on  this  subject  in  the  Navy  Depart- 
ment at  Washington,  stating  that  it  would  seem  that  such 
persons  should  be  exempt  from  the  penalty  of  corporal  punish- 
ment. 

The  engine  grew  in  size  with  each  succeeding  vessel,  and  as 
it  increased,  the  sails  correspondingly  shrank,  until  finally  they 
disappeared  altogether.  Other  mechanical  germs  also  found  a 
lodgment  in  the  ship,  which  have  so  developed  that  hydraulic 
and  pneumatic  pressures  are  produced,  and  electric  currents 
are  generated  and  distributed,  to  govern  the  rudder,  hoist  the 
anchor,  ventilate  the  compartments,  energize  the  combustion, 
revolve  the  turrets,  train  and  control  the  guns,  handle  the  am- 
munition, and  purge  the  ocean’s  water  of  its  impurities,  making 
it  wholesome  for  the  ship’s  use. 

Following  these  in  quick  succession  came  incandescent  lamps 
and  search-lights,  breech-loading  and  rapid-fire  guns,  multi- 
charge automatic  guns,  and  mobile  torpedoes — one  mechanical 
appliance  rapidly  following  another,  until  the  ship-of-the-line, 
which  but  just  now  embodied  the  result  of  hundreds  of  years  of 
thought  and  experiment,  has  b.een  completely  transformed  from 
keel  to  topmast  into  a vast  machine,  controlled  and  operated, 
even  to  the  least  important  function,  not  by  sailors,  but  by 
mechanicians. 

In  every  phase  of  our  industrial  life  the  changes  wrought 
by  the  engineer  are  quite  as  evident;  for  instance,  note  the 
marvellous  changes  in  the  manufacture  of  steel, — in  the 
development  of  electric  locomotion, — in  iron  building  con- 
struction,— in  machine  tools, — in  agricultural  implements, — 
in  sewing-machines, — in  textile  industries, — in  electric  me- 
tallurgy, 


PRESIDENT’S  ADDRESS,  1898. 


11 


His  Work. 

The  life  of  the  engineer  has  a full  measure  of  the  labors,  the 
trials,  the  discomforts,  and  the  disappointments  which  are 
found  in  this  as  in  every  other  walk  of  life.  But  it  also  has 
the  successes  which  come  from  well-directed  labors.  It  is  not, 
however,  either  the  useful  work  in  itself,  or  what  are  called  the 
successes  of  life,  which  brings  happiness.  It  is  man’s  ideals 
which  make  him  happy. 

Let  us  together  survey  some  of  the  surrounding  influences 
which  tend  to  give  high  ideals  of  life  to  the  engineer,  no  matter 
what  the  trials  or  the  vexations  of  the  moment  may  be.  We 
will  pass  in  review  the  interesting  character  of  his  daily  work, 
his  pure-minded  associates,  the  higher  pleasures  of  life,  and  the 
fascinating  scenes  by  which  he  is  surrounded.  We  will  then 
better  appreciate  with  what  elevated  emotions  a father  can  lead 
a son,  or  a teacher  his  pupil,  to  the  path  of  an  engineering  life, 
and  place  in  his  hands  the  mathematical,  chemical,  and  physical 
implements  to  enter  upon  a work  which  will  bring  to  him  use- 
fulness, pleasure,  and  honor. 

Whichever  way  engineering  may  develop  as  time  rolls  on,  its 
elevating  influences  are  constantly  at  work  on  the  mind  and  on 
the  character.  The  work  is  carried  on  under  unchangeable 
laws,  which  must  be  rigorously  applied  and  adhered  to,  or 
failure  is  sure  to  result.  Man  builds  to  master,  to  resist,  or  to 
guide  the  forces  of  nature.  If  he  has  rightly  judged  the  condi- 
tions, his  work  stands  as  a permanent  monument  of  the  fact ; 
but  if  otherwise,  the  irresistible  laws  of  nature  will  develop  the 
defect  and  discover  his  ignorance,  incompetence,  or  error  to 
every  observer. 

His  Researches . 

Hence  he  laboriously  seeks  out  the  unseen  laws  and  forces 
of  the  universe,  then  expresses  the  revelation  in  a workable 
form  for  his  daily  use.  He  tests  his  materials  with  painstaking 
refinement.  He  measures  electric  resistances  with  an  accuracy 
now  reaching  the  point  of  one  in  four  millions, — time  to  the  one- 
millionth  part  of  a second ; — divides  a circle  with  a mean  error 
not  exceeding  the  one-millionth  part  of  the  circumference ; — 
makes  surfaces  six  inches  square  with  a variation  from  absolute 
flatness  of  less  than  one  two-hundred-thousandth  of  an  inch, 


12 


PRESIDENT’S  ADDRESS,  1898. 


and  parallel  within  one  second  of  arc ; — rules  lines  which  vary  ‘ 
from  absolutely  perfect  spacing  by  only  one  three-millionth  part 
of  an  inch ; — measures  his  optical  work  with  a wave-length  of 
light  as  a unit  of  distance,  and  handles  this  unit  of  the  one 
forty-thousandth  of  an  inch  as  easily  as  a mechanic  handles  a 
rule ; — sees  clearly  the  spectrum  of  samarium  when  one  part 
is  diluted  with  three  million  parts  of  lime  ; — and  surveys  lines 
eleven  miles  long,  in  the  open  air,  with  an  average  variation 
in  three  measurements  of  only  four-tenths  of  an  inch. 

His  Ethics. 

The  effect  of  living  and  working  in  such  a sphere  of  action, 
where  it  is  inconceivable  that  an  engineer  could  knowingly  be 
otherwise  than  exact  in  his  work,  should  tend  to  influence  the 
whole  trend  of  his  life  and  character,  and  make  them  to  a 
greater  or  less  degree  a reflex  of  his  daily  work.  He  of  all  men 
has  the  most  unchangeable  and  exalted  basis  for  his  ethics — 
the  clearest  of  all  knowledge  of  the  disastrous  results  which 
will  surely  follow  the  violation  of  law.  The  very  qualities  of 
his  mind  which  make  his  work  a pleasure  and  a success  will  all 
tend  to  bring  his  every  act  into  compliance  with  the  inexorable 
laws  of  the  universe.  If  it  is  otherwise,  and  his  conduct  is  not 
guided  by,  and  his  ethics  are  not  in  accordance  with  the  laws 
of  right  doing  and  right  thinking,  then,  and  to  that  extent,  he 
is  not  an  engineer — not  one  who  is  skilled  in  the  application 
of  the  laws  and  the  forces  of  nature  to  the  uses  of  man. 

His  Pleasures. 

It  is  with  hesitation  that  I ask  you  to  contemplate  the  pleas- 
ures of  life  enjoyed  by  those  whose  daily  walk  is  thus  sur- 
rounded. Words  fail  to  describe  the  exquisite  pleasures  and 
the  noble  aims  which  are  inspired  by  the  contemplation  of  the 
wisdom  and  beneficence  of  the  laws  of  the  universe,  which 
the  diligence  of  man  has  revealed  to  us.  Who  can  estimate  the 
satisfaction  which  comes  to  the  mind  of  the  engineer  from  the 
knowledge  that  his  work,  the  fruit  of  his  investigations,  and 
the  wisdom  of  his  decisions  will  be  judged,  not  by  fallible 
human  methods  and  its  caprices,  but  by  the  infallible  and  immu- 
table laws  of  the  universe ! 


PRESIDENT’S  ADDRESS,  1898. 


13 


• Then  consider  the  pleasure  which  comes  from  working  in  the 
open  air,  in  the  broadest  light,  where  every  interested  one  can 
see  his  difficulties,  his  investigations,  his  adaptations,  and 
finally,  if  God  has  given  him  ability  equal  to  the  task,  his  solu- 
tion of  the  problem.  When  victory  comes,  he  is  given  the 
honor  due  to  the  work  in  unstinted  measure,  and  he  can  accept 
it  with  propriety  and  count  the  commendation  as  one  of  the 
pleasures  of  life. 

It  is  inspiring  to  the  earnest  engineer  to  feel  that  the  actual 
workings  of  his  mind,  and  his  inner  and  fundamental  conception 
of  the  forces  of  nature,  of  resistances,  of  materials,  of  workman- 
ship, will  be  shown  in  his  works  as  in  a mirror.  Roebling, 
Ericsson,  Sir  Benjamin  Baker,  and  Edison  have  worked,  as  it 
were,  in  a glass  house.  Their  thoughts  and  judgments  are 
shown  to  all  the  world,  not  by  inadequate  words,  but  in  the 
works  of  their  hands — the  Brooklyn  Suspension  Bridge, — the 
turreted  Monitor, — the  Forth  Bridge, — the  quadruplex  tele- 
graph,— the  enclosed  filament  whose  electric  conductivity  in- 
creases with  the  current. 

Then  he  has  the  gratification  to  the  mind  which  is  found  in 
comprehending  and  intellectually  seeing,  as  clearly  as  in  a dia- 
gram, the  theoretical  lines  of  the  forces  in  a structure,  and 
then  clothing  those  lines  with  materials  of  strength  and  re- 
sistance, to  make  them  realities,  and  adapted  to  do  the  every- 
day work  of  life.  The  Brooklyn  Suspension  Bridge  by  Roeb- 
ling  shows  an  almost  ideal  correspondence  of  the  two,  so  that 
it  may  represent  either  theory  or  practice,  depending  on  which 
way  at  the  moment  he  chooses  to  look  at  it.  Again,  he 
uses  a system  of  weights  that  cannot  be  seen  or  handled,  the 
purely  intellectual  atomic  weights — yet  the  rock  under  our  feet 
is  not  more  firm  and  real  than  is  the  work  done  with  these  in- 
tellectual aids. 

His  Environment. 

Working  in  a field  and  in  touch  with  a body  of  his  fellow-men 
having  similar  tastes,  he  sees  on  every  hand  scenes  of  engross- 
ing interest — the  telescope  photographically  recording  the  po- 
sition and  motion  of  stars  which  no  human  eye  has  ever  seen, — 
the  spectroscope  analyzing  the  materials  of  the  sun  and  stars 
with  all  the  accuracy  which  it  would  show  if  the  articles  were 
in  the  laboratory, — looking  with  Roentgen  rays  through  a double- 


14 


PRESIDENT’S  ADDRESS,  1898. 


barrelled  rifle,  and  seeing  not  only  the  leaden  bullets  within  the 
steel  barrels,  but  also  the  wads  and  the  charges, — and  photo- 
graphing lines  in  the  ultra-violet  and  infra-red  spectrum  far 
beyond  the  reach  of  our  vision. 

He  stands  by  a quartz  filament  galvanometer  which  indicates 
an  electric  current  so  minute  that  if  it  should  be  increased  in 
magnitude  eight  hundred  thousand  times  it  would  still  be  only 
the  one-millionth  part  of  an  ampere ; and  on  the  other  hand,  in 
contrast,  sees  the  Niagara  electric  generator  of  five  thousand 
horse-power,  with  a current  so  much  larger  than  that  of  the 
galvanometer  that  the  difference  can  only  be  expressed  mathe- 
matically, not  in  colloquial  language.  He  sees  with  entrancing 
interest  the  liquefaction  of  hydrogen  at  a temperature  of  only 
twenty-three  degrees  centigrade  above  absolute  zero, — and,  again 
in  contrast,  sees  what  promises  to  be  a rosetta-stone  in  astral 
analysis,  in  the  precise  correspondence  of  the  spectrum  of  the 
star  gamma  Cygni  and  that  of  the  chromosphere  of  the  sun. 

He  shares  in  the  enthusiasm  at  the  results  of  two  years  of 
unremitting  work  in  the  extreme  part  of  the  known  spectrum  in 
isolating  a new  element,  monium, — in  the  Hertz  electro-mag- 
netic waves  now  applied  in  wireless  telegraphy, — in  the  newly 
discovered  element  polonium,  whose  radiations  make  the  air 
through  which  they  pass  a conductor  of  electricity. 

More  nearly  touching  him  personally  comes  the  work  of  the 
biologist,  whose  quest  for  the  thing  we  call  life  has  continued 
from  the  primitive  man  to  the  present  time.  Constantly  flit- 
ting from  his  grasp,  it  has  seemingly  passed  from  fire  and 
storm  to  mountain  and  deep,  from  animal  and  plant  to  flower, 
to  seed,  to  cell,  and  now  it  has  been  followed  to  the  molecule 
or  the  atom ; and  yet  it  as  completely  eludes  his  grasp,  or  even 
his  comprehension,  as  ever  it  has.  But  followed  it  certainly 
has  been,  by  all  the  laws  and  forces  of  nature  at  the  command 
of  man,  until  the  search  for  it  is  now  in  the  atom,  a space 
physically  so  small  that  only  the  trained  imagination  can  even 
faintly  comprehend  its  minuteness. 

And  there,  on  the  outskirts  of  this  unexplored  world,  stands 
man,  with  spectroscope  and  polarized  light,  peering  into  the 
sphere  of  action  which  we  call  an  atom,  well  knowing  that 
therein  lie  wonderful  forces,  activities,  and  at  least  the  effects  of 
that  mysterious  entity,  life  itself.  He  sees  a field  for  investiga- 
tion so  fraught  with  possibilities,  so  infinitely  beyond  the  com- 


PRESIDENT’S  ADDRESS,  1898. 


15 


prehension  of  any  conception  which  we  can  form  of  the  capaci- 
ties of  the  human  mind,  that  he  stands  gazing  into  the  abyss 
with  the  same  devout  wonder  and  awe  as  does  the  astronomer 
when  viewing  the  illimitable  heavens.  The  two  are  standing,  as 
it  were,  back  to  back,  and  each  is  gazing  into  an  infinity — one 
into  the  infinitely  great,  and  the  other  into  the  infinitely  small. 

Thus  stands  the  engineer  in  the  midst  of  a countless  number 
of  earnest  explorers  in  the  field  of  unrevealed  nature,  and,  so  to 
speak,  sees  the  tools  forged  and  the  materials  discovered  with 
which  he  is  to  work.  Cheerfully  can  he  enter  upon  his  daily 
task  with  the  consciousness  that  his  application  of  these  dis- 
coveries is  of  real  service  in  lightening  the  burdens  of  our  life, 
as  well  as  elevating  and  ennobling  his  fellow-men. 

The  scenes  which  we  have  just  brought  to  our  intellectual 
vision  are  not  those  of  the  untrained  imagination,  of  rhetoric,  or 
of  unreality,  but  those  of  the  most  rigorous  truth,  among  the 
most  real  and  matter-of-fact  things  known  to  us  in  all  the  realms 
of  nature,  and  brought  before  you  in  the  plainest  language  at 
my  command. 

We  have  traversed  a wide  field  together,  and  now,  as  we  draw 
near  to  a personal  parting — never  to  meet  again  under  similar 
circumstances — let  us,  as  we  travel  the  way  of  life,  appreciate 
its  elevating  pleasures,  and  carry  to  our  daily  tasks  and  to  our 
homes  a higher  realization  of  the  dignity  of  the  life  and  of  the 
work  of  the  engineer. 


